The Key to Living Your Best Life

Picture this: You woke up late this morning, snoozed through your alarm and didn’t wake up until the time you were supposed to be at work. You didn’t have time to spend with God this morning, or to eat breakfast, or to take care of your body by squeezing in a mini workout. You brush your teeth, make yourself look minorly acceptable (even though you know you could do better) just to get in your car to drive recklessly to work. You just spent an entire morning doing the minimum number of things required to get through the rest of your day.

Or picture this: You were out late last night giving yourself time to have a little bit of fun with friends. The next morning you wake up groggy and decide to sleep in a little bit. The little bit becomes a lotta bit, and the laziness ensues throughout the rest of your day. You can’t find the motivation to do anything productive.

Sometimes we go throughout our days oblivious to the fact that the devil is waiting around for us to stumble back into his arms. It’s unintentional sometimes. Life happens and before we know it, we’ve avoided being in the Word for a week straight, or we haven’t talked to God in a while. Scripture says that the devil preys like a roaring lion waiting for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) That’s a scary thought.

When you struggle enough on your own to take your thoughts captive to obeying Christ due to a chemical imbalance, or other outside factors, it seems we become even more vulnerable to the devil’s attacks. While this may be partially true, what is not true is that you don’t have any power to overcome anxiety, or depression, or the like. If you have the Holy Spirit living inside you; if you have accepted Christ as your savior, you have the power to say no to a panic attack; to staying in bed all day, and to refusing help.

This is what it takes to overcome: intentionality. Many Christians have succumbed to the lie that if we just sit back and be still, God will heal us magically. Beautiful girl, please hear me. God wants to heal you, He wants you to be still and let Him work, and He has all of the power necessary to give you a miracle, but that doesn’t mean healing will be instant, that you can be lazy in your walk with God, or that He will give you your miracle healing instantaneously. (Side note about miracles here: God will not allow them without faith, He will not perform them if they contradict His master plan for your life, & He will not perform them for your entertainment.) Sometimes God wants to use a process instead of a moment to refine us in a fire. It’s for our own good, and we have to trust Him and know that it’s the best route to healing.

Here are some practical steps we can take to avoid falling prey to the devil in our daily lives:

1. Intentional Prayer: Find a way that you can incorporate prayer into your daily life and remember to do so daily.

• If you’re a working woman, pray during your lunch break, or during any break that you have throughout your day.
• If you’re a student, set aside 30 minutes-1 hour in your daily schedule to present your requests to God.
• If you’re just really busy, I encourage you to wake up one hour earlier than you do now to pray.

2. Intentional Worship: Find a church. It’s a process; I get it, but it’s important. And it’s essential for the next practical step. Don’t be lazy with this step. I want you to find a church focused on God and His mission for our lives; and at that, one that won’t give you the baby’s milk, but the theology and Gospel.
3. Intentional Relationship: Find a community. Find Godly friends. I know it’s hard, but God created us for relationship. He won’t let you do this life alone. It’s an essential part of resisting the devil in our lives. Godly community will hold you accountable as well!

You can do this, lovely. You have everything in you that you could possibly need if you believe Him. It just takes the faith of a mustard seed. I want to pray for you right now, that you would apply these practical steps in your life.

God, thank you for the woman reading this right now. Thank you for bringing her to You by grace. I pray that you would begin healing her of any anxiety or depression she may be falling prey to. I pray that you would begin to break those chains she clings to every day. Help her to dive into her relationship with You through prayer, worship, and relationship with others. She needs those things, Lord. They are essential to her existence. Help her to feel Your love, and Your peace that surpasses all understanding. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Say yes to Jesus. Just say his name. The devil will flee.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.